Where is God?
by Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel
Summary: Sky celebrates a very strange holiday called Christmas with his Earth-raised girlfriend. In a moment, he shakes her belief in which god she must follow: God or the almighty being that resides in her heart, the Great Dragon.


**Where is God?**

Friday, December 24, 2009

**Disclaimer:**I do not own the Winx Club. Is the Bible copyrighted? Here goes nothing hoping that I'm not sued by the Vatican. (This is a joke. The Bible is generally not copyrighted—translations are though!—because it was written 1500 years ago by many people.)

**Fore Note: **Inspired after going to Christmas mass.

And if you think that this isn't making sense, it's fine.

This was written for Winx Writers Anonymous's Themed challenge (the challenge was something in the spirit of Christmas or the winter holidays).

* * *

"_Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in __the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you."_ (Deuteronomy 18:10-12 New International Version)

* * *

**God** is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe.

* * *

The **Great Dragon** is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe.

* * *

**Christmas Eve. ****Earth. The backyard.**

Bloom stood in two feet of unshovelled snow in her backyard—no, Mom and Dad's backyard. She no longer lived on Earth anymore. Sparks was home. The royal garden was her backyard.

No matter how much she tried to love her real parents, they could not give her the same familiar love that she had grown up with. It just was not the same.

It was snowing fluffy flakes. There was total darkness except for the light from the streetlamps. It was probably freezing but Bloom could not tell. The fiery magic inside of her kept her adequately warm.

She was waiting in the backyard for Sky. They would go attend mass with her parents—show him what Christmas was.

"What's Chris…mas…?" She outright laughed at Sky when he said that to her.

And then she realised, Christmas was not universal at all.

Bloom staredto the grey cloudy night sky in anticipation. Would he arrive by portal or ship? And how did he find the time in his busy schedule to visit some lonely planet half way across the galaxy?

The universe was immense, huge and made Bloom awe at its size. Earth was such an insignificant member in the grand scheme of the universe. It made her feel small despite the great things that she had done. Saving the universe seemed so inconsequential after coming home to Sparks and rebuilding her kingdom. And then there was Roxy and the real fairies of Earth.

And then the kingdom again.

There was no rest in her life. After the entire adventure on Earth was wrapped up by officials, Sky was swept off to Eraklyon with his attention divided like slice of cake while she was left to wonder around from Magix to Sparks to Eraklyon to her friends' planets to figure out her life. Since she was engaged to the King of Eraklyon, there was no way she was going to inherit Sparks.

In short, it left her parents heirless.

Guilt. She was wracked with her. Where did that leave her parents? One daughter was dead and other was marrying into another kingdom's family. They were essentially heirless, without a child to carry their legacy.

Then was the fact that they never got to watch their daughter grow up and the fact that they themselves had never aged while imprisoned in the Obsidian Dimension.

Miriam had been barely fifteen when she married Oritel and only twenty-five when she shoved baby Bloom into eight year old Dafne's arms and screamed for her to run.

It was like looking into a mirror for Bloom. Bloom looked so exactly like Miriam that it was disturbing to see one's mother as old as her. It was not as if there was not a likeness that all mothers' and daughters' had but rather that it was like looking at oneself and then realising what Bloom had missed: love, memories, moments of happiness, seeing her mother grow as she grew.

Shuffling from foot to foot, Bloom waited.

Suddenly, she shivered as if her bones had been hit by static and then the snow in the yard scatter like autumn leaves in a whirlwind. Light emanated from some undeterminable place and she closed her eyes from being blinded. The next time she opened her eyes, she saw a whirling portal floating in the middle of the yard.

Sky stepped out of the portal and the portal vanished into thin air. He wore an opened black wool jacket with jeans and a collared shirt.

"Sky! You made it!" Bloom squealed. "I thought that you wouldn't make it."

"I come bearing good news, actually. That's why I was held up for a bit."

Bloom stepped up to him on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their noses touched. "Oh, and what news is that?"

"Miriam is pregnant."

About to brush her lips against his, Bloom stiffened. "What?"

"Your mother is pregnant. Aren't you happy?"

She stood very still, unable to understand her feelings.

"Bloom," he said concerned and distant, "Aren't you happy for her?" There was a strange wiser look about him, like he was deeply troubled by her silence. Pure concern was read on his face but the concern was not for Bloom. It was for Miriam because Bloom's mother was his political equal and ally. Yes, that was it. Miriam and Oritel were as much as friends to him as Brandon and Riven were.

She was disturbed by the idea that her real father might as well be her fiancé's best friend as she was.

"Bloom, did you hear me? Aren't you happy for you mother?"

"I-I…" she stuttered, feeling pressured. "What should I feel?"

"Well, you should be happy, no?"

She was unsure. Somewhat thrown away.

It was strange, Sky observed.

* * *

Singing, kneeling, praying, getting up, sitting down, eating a cracker, getting splashed by weird smelling water, making symbolic hand signs, listening to passages from a purportedly two thousand year old book that has never been changed and giving money really part of Bloom's faith? Was this really the will of their god? And who was he to criticise anyways?

They had a strange god indeed.

Sky wisely kept his mouth shut and just observed the events of Mass unfold with a steady clinical gaze. It would be useful to know habits of Earthlings as much as possible. For the most part Mass, was very boring and he saw that young children thought the same.

Sky could not wait to stretch his legs and get out of the stuffy church. He, Bloom and her family had sat towards the back of the church, slightly late.

"So, to conclude, be safe on your way home and do not weaken in your faith. God is always there. Our world is changing, ever since those fairies called the Winx appeared and disappeared, but it is in times like these when our faith is most tested. In times like these, that is when we are strongest against these demons," the reverend said.

There was some more singing as the priest and a procession made their way out through the center aisle as people started to get up and put on their jackets but Sky could sense Bloom's fear at the reverend's words. He slipped his hands into hers reassuringly. The church was filled with echoing chatter as everyone made their way out.

"Bloom, it's okay," Sky whispered.

"It's okay for you." Bloom hastily pulled out a knitted hat from her pocket and hastily shoved it on her head to hide her bright hair. "No one knows you but everyone remembers the Winx Club and…_me_. Sky, I don't want to be remembered. I wish they didn't remember me. I want to be normal for once."

"Do you think I'm normal, Bloom? King of Eraklyon who ran away from his entourage just to spend an Earth holiday with his girlfriend. I guarantee you that Brandon and his squire will come blasting down Mike and Vanessa's back door tonight and I think they're sick of magical people and aliens like me destroying their door. Knut, Icy, occasionally me, sometimes Brandon when he's manhunting me across the universe…gee, Bloom, how do they feel about all of that?"

"Sky!"

"It's true, isn't it? Life isn't normal by your standards because you're using Earth standards. You have to consider magic. Com'on, let's go."

Bloom tried to hide her presence on the way out by hiding behind Sky's presence. The man walked as if he belonged anywhere he went. He had a sort of trustworthy confidence that had all the Earth girls eyeing him all of the time and it was nerve-wracking for Bloom as Sky never did anything to tell them off. A few familiar customers from the bar wished him warm greetings to Sky and so did Andy and his family.

In the church's anteroom, the reverend was seeing everyone off. Bloom pulled her hood up quickly and locked her arm in Sky's again. The reverend spotted Sky and said the usual warm wishes.

The reverend was the last person Bloom wanted to be seen by and so she hid behind Sky's arm. Mike went to get the car and Vanessa was chatting with her lady friends.

"I noticed that you were in the corner observing everything. Are you new?" the old reverend said cordially. The reverend was a short balding man wearing white robes.

"No, sir. I'm just not a follower."

"Protestant then?"

Sky tilted his head slightly at the new word. "No, sir, I don't practise Christianity at all. I'm here out of respect for my fiancée. Not from around though, you see."

"Well, have you heard of the Winx?"

"The fairies who went around helping people? I've heard of them. Don't really care though."

"Well, you be careful. It never hurts to be informed."

"Sky, we should get going!" Bloom whispered.

"And who is this?" The reverend circled Sky to see Bloom.

Bloom lowered her head behind her scarf like a turtle.

"My fiancée," Sky said with a quiet proud spirit. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "This is Bloom."

"Bloom? Little Bloom who went to boarding school in Greece. Dear, you've grown! Engaged, no less! Why are you hiding behind all that? Let me see your face."

"Sky, Bloom, the car's here!" Vanessa called from the open doors and waved them over.

Bloom had already pulled down her scarf slightly to speak. "Well, I'm sorry to cut this short, Reverend, but, um, we must go."

"Oh, of course, we'll talk another time. Merry Christmas, dear! And you, too, sir!" the reverend said to Sky.

The drive home was a relief for Bloom. As soon as she was inside the safety of the house, she felt as if her heart had run a race and she just realised it. Bloom threw herself unto her stomach on the couch and almost wanted to sleep had it not been for her hunger. Sky kneeled beside her on the floor. Vanessa clattered domestically in the kitchen.

"What is wrong with you?" Sky said.

"I don't know, Sky. It just doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like home."

"What do you mean, sweet?" Sky spoke more easily as he transitioned from one Earth tongue to his original language from Eraklyon. That was how they always spoke to each other now. Bloom spoke in the first langauge that she learnt on Earth while Sky spoke in his Eraklyonite language. It was something that they both preferred and comfortable for them. Incomprehensibly, they understood each other perfectly despite the apparent language barrier.

"It just doesn't feel like home anywhere I go."

"Is it because of what I told you earlier?"

"No, it's just, being all of this. I saved the universe how many times, I did so many things and the Dragonfire. I need to do something. I feel like I've done everything that I was supposed to do in my life."

Sky back against the coffee table and listened.

"It's just, I don't know what to do sometimes. I want to do something but I don't know what. The Great Dragon hasn't spoken to me in a long time and…"

"Why don't you just have a kid then? You're a woman and you're bored."

It took Bloom several moments to process what Sky was saying.

"Excuse me—I'm not bored!"

"All this whining about not having a purpose in life means you're bored, Bloom. My mother says that a bored woman is a very dangerous thing. The best way to stave off the boredom is to get them pregnant."

"I'm not dangerous! And I'm not getting pregnant just to because I was bored." Bloom sat up outraged and offended. There were some days when she could understand Sky and then some days when she just couldn't at all because of his otherworldly upbringing. Surely, he was telling a bad joke? "I'm not going to have your children on those pretences!"

"I never said that it had to be_ my _kids, Bloom," he replied with a cutting tone. No, he wasn't joking at all. He was deadly serious.

Bloom stiffened.

"And then what pretences _will _you have kids?" Sky said accusingly. "Will you have kids simply because Icy is still out there trying to kill your line for the Dragonfire? Is that something you would really want to tell you kid? That he or she was conceived for the sole purpose of carry on your powers?

"Your mother Miriam is having another child simply because you will not be there to inherit Sparks when the time comes. Your next little brother or little sister was conceived for the sole purpose of carrying on what you were supposed to."

"You don't know that!"

"Yeah, then who will get Sparks when your parents die? Life does not need to have a complicated purpose, Bloom. You can have kids simply because you enjoy life. You live like a vagabond because there is very little to tie you but what I'm telling you is to make your own ties. You must make your own life."

"But I want my life to be in Gardenia, Sky. All the glitz and glam of being a princess, I'm not cut to be that."

"And that's all perfectly fine, Bloom. I didn't think you would enjoy the princess life but Gardenia is not possible. It's not safe; it's something that you cannot go back to."

Mike's voice interrupted them. "Dinner's ready," he said somewhat icily to Sky.

Bloom strode out of the room upset and leaving the two men behind.

As Sky walked by the firemen, Mike grabbed his arm. "What did you say to her?" Mike said in angry whisper. "Get pregnant? Are you stupid? She's too young!"

"Mike," Sky said in an annoyingly calm and reassuring voice, "Bloom finished puberty a long time ago. By my world's standards, someone her age would be considered too old to marry."

"So what, you think you're doing my daughter a favour?"

"No, I love her, Mike, but she needs to let go of Earth and embrace the worlds out there."

They all sat about the dinner table. It was a simple dinner with turkey, baked pasta and a variety of fish accompanied with plates of unidentifiable vegetables (to Sky). The atmosphere was supposed to be warm and inviting but no one seemed to feel that except for Vanessa. The elderly woman poured some wine into a glass and offered some to Sky.

"No, I don't really want to drink if I can avoid it. There is no alcohol where I live."

Bloom kept silent for most of the affair, occasionally to listening to bits of conversation as Sky described his world.

"Your god is very interesting," Sky said carefully, "He asks you do a lot of strange things, in my opinion."

"Oh, and what about yours? Do you have any gods?" Vanessa asked.

"My god has the same purpose as your god. The Dragon is the force that created the world and is the thing that keeps it together still. We know that it exists because it can directly speak to us in person or through a medium like your Jesus Christ.

"But the Great Dragon doesn't ask for worship like yours does. We are all his creation or children in some way, like Adam and Eve. Like any parent, he gives us rules to adhere to—those rules would be like the laws of physics or the law of the four elements. It's not a real religion, really. Just really old pagan stories that no one ever argues."

"How come?"

"There's simply nothing to argue. Like on Earth, there is nothing that proves or disproves the existence of Adam and Eve. There are things like that except it's more about animals: birds mating with dragons, the union of the wolf and the lion, the battle of the wolves and bears, et cetera."

"So how is it that almost everyone out there knows about the Dragon if you're all from different planets?" Vanessa seemed positively delighted to learn about the other worlds.

"It's possible that there are planets that simply don't need to know about the Dragon. Like people from Zenith, they're a really logical sort, and they have a hard time believing that one being is father to us all so they just ignore it."

"And where is the Great Dragon now? Is there a Heaven and Hell? Or a Devil?"

Sky grew quiet. "My god is inside…" The blond king turned to his fiancée.

* * *

**Late night. A time when most were sleeping. **

Bloom was truly disturbed. And angry.

She slipped out of her old bedroom, silently crept down the hall into the guest room. The side table lamp was lit giving a dim yellow light. Sky sat on the bed with his back to the headboard. He had reading glasses perched on his nose typing away at a laptop. Holographic screens float around him pleading for his attention. It made a strange sight: strong bristling warrior who had fought harpies and minotaurs wearing glasses and typing away at a computer in the middle of the night. Strange.

For a moment, she wished she hadn't disturbed him.

"Yes?"

"Are you busy?"

Sky pushed his laptop screen down and all the holograms disappeared. "It can wait. Something wrong?"

Bloom climbed onto to bed and sat beside him. "At dinner…you said your god is inside me."

"Yes, my god is the Great Dragon."

"And the Great Dragon is inside me."

"It does not mean that you are the Great Dragon, Bloom. You are the medium he works through. I love you for who you are, not what you are."

"Like Jesus?"

"Yeah, I guess that's the best example. It doesn't mean that you have to be some prophecy-spouting lunatic turning water to wine. In the world, some people may worship the ground you walk on and some people may not. In the end though, it means nothing."

"But what about my God?"

"What about your god?"

"Does he exist?"

"Your god and my god can be the same one god. However, even if the Great Dragon is the supreme creator, it does not mean he is omnipresent or omniscient. No one can be at more than two places at once, even the Dragon for he is a creation of the Universe herself."

"The universe herself?"

"The Universe was always there. Long before the Dragon. She is called Mother. Like when you say 'Mother of god.' That is Mother."

"But Sky, I grew up Catholic. I can't be…I can't believe in this. It's against my religion, it's pagan."

"Then how can you believe in the Great Dragon but not Mother?"

"I…"

Sky pointed to her heart. "You have undeniable proof inside you that you are the vessel of the Great Dragon yet you believe in this old book that says you should be dead because you were born?

"Bloom, you must choose in what you believe. Will you believe in something that is empty, waiting for salvation from a being that has never spoken to you or will you make your own salvation, be your own saviour? Will you believe in old stories or substance and proven truths? This god of yours does not exist for you are God. You are the 'creator,' the architect, the supreme being. This power is inside you and you must come to accept it. You must learn to control it so that you may not hurt anyone. That is your responsibility."

"But Sky?"

"Bloom, you must live beyond what you know on Earth. There are many other worlds with billions of other religions that you'll consider pagan. Will you be the wrath of your Earth god and destroy those other worlds because they do not have the same belief as you?"

"I would never do that!"

"Then what will you do, Bloom?"

"I-I will…what should I do?"

"I can't tell you how to live, Bloom. I would like you to live with me in Eraklyon but I can't force that on you."

Bloom kept silent. She fingered her hair and started to chew on it.

"Bloom?"

"I-I don't know, Sky."

"Well, what will you do after Christmas, at least?"

"I'm going to stay for New Year's for sure."

"And after that?"

"I don't know."

"Might I make a suggestion?"

"...okay," she said unsure.

"Go see Miriam. It's a start."

"Will you come with me?"

"Bloom, it's your mother—"

"But, I don't know her enough…please?"

"I'll try to come."

"Thank you."

"Go to sleep, Bloom."

"Yes." Bloom nodded and curled herself into his arms. There was an even bigger chasm in her heart. Sky had cleared up nothing for her like she had hoped. What was she supposed to believe in? Herself or God?

She planted a kiss on his lips, very chaste and snuck herself out of the room. About to close the door, something nagged at her. She opened it slightly to see Sky.

The laptop was on again and all the holographic screens were back.

"Sky," she said, "Do you want kids?"

"Why this all of a sudden, Bloom?"

"I just want to know, Sky?"

"The answer is yes."

Bloom opened her mouth to say something but she was not sure about what was the right response. "Goodnight, Sky. I love you."

Bloom sleep fitfully, unsure of her future and of herself. But first, New Years and then, Miriam and Oritel. Hopefully after that, the rest of her life and Sky. Sky was right on some points. Aimless boredom was not a favourable pastime.

* * *

**Latter Note: **More of a drabble than anything organised. There are various messages but make of it whatever you want.

Also, if Sky sounds like a jerk/jackass/asshole/censored explective, that was partially the goal. I needed someone strong to shake up Bloom's morals and I thought that Sky was the perfect person. Plus, he's a king. I would think that the attitude was expected.

Happy New Year!


End file.
